Syrian military hierarchy incorporates all the ranks of Syrian military. Syrian military structure is quite different from the usual US/UK military structure with two broad differences. First Syrian military is a conscripted one means it is obligatory for every male from a family to join the Syrian military and serve the country at least for one and half year. Earlier this mandatory duration used to be of two & half years but in 2008 it got changed to 21 months and finally in 2011 it was changed again to one & half year. Only men are allowed to join military forces (not women) in Syria which is a compulsion too.
The minimum age limit set for men to enter the Syrian military is 18. Secondly the highest authority rank in the Syrian military is assigned to the President of Syria. This is done under the rules of constitution of Syria. The designation assigned to the President is Commander in Chief. He does not practically serve the military but still the highest rank is kept only for him. He outlooks the functions and operations of the military from an administrative position.
Syrian Military hierarchy is described below in a chronological order and here we are starting with the Commander in Chief rank as the top most one and then proceeding ahead. The Syrian military is broadly divided into four categories. First one is the Presidential level only. The next three actually defines all the ranks of Syrian Military hierarchy.
Commander in Chief – As discussed above this the highest rank of Syrian Military hierarchy which is only reserved for President of Syria.
High level Ranks – The actual military ranks that perform military duties starts from this level. This level incorporates all of the highest level military ranks of the Soviet military. The personnel in this level are the highest paid personal involved in strategic planning & decision making process. This level gets divided into 6 further sub levels in the Syrian Military hierarchy.
- Marshal
- General
- Lieutenant general
- Major General
- Brigadier general
- Colonel
Middle Level Ranks – The middle level ranks in the Syrian Military hierarchy comprise of 10 military ranks which work on the ground level according to the orders provided to them by the higher level military rank holders.
- Lieutenant colonel
- Major
- Captain
- 1st Lieutenant
- 2nd Lieutenant
- Warrant officer 1st class
- Warrant officer 2nd class
- Warrant officer 3rd class
- Sergeant major
- 2nd sergeant
Junior Level Ranks – This level include all the lower (or simply saying junior) level ranks in the Syrian Military hierarchy. This is also considered the entry level.
- Sergeant
- Corporal
- Private 1st class